Music, Film and the Arts

I will work to revitalize Silver Lake’s artistic tradition by establishing a new music and arts festival by Silver Lakers, for Silver Lakers, with an emphasis on promoting local artists and community unity.

My plan involves a distributed “festival” with small, mostly acoustic performances either in our outdoor spaces, or in the homes and backyards of our friends and neighbors. Many prominent independent artists already do “living room” tours, and a place like Silver Lake is an ideal venue for them.

This model would allow residents intimate gatherings with artists, as well as the chance to be invited as guests into homes of their fellow community members. By distributing venues, we would create a unique event, as opposed to a “Coachella Jr.,” and avoid the “big festival” headaches of the past caused by Sunset Junction (parking problems, street closures, skyrocketing admission costs, local businesses losing business because their businesses were inside the paid admission area). Admission fees by non-Silver-Lake residents could be used to defer the cost of making the festival free for all Silver Lake residents, and I would reach out to local artists to curate the festival.

Film would also be incorporated. Silver Lake has a vibrant community of both independent and Hollywood filmmakers (I myself am the former), and we haven’t had a festival to call our own since the Silver Lake Film Festival ended some years ago. Again, the emphasis would be on small, intimate gatherings that bring the community together with the artists and with each other.

All of this would take a lot of work, but I’m ready to dedicate myself to getting things started.